Manufacture of rollers for roller bearings



Feb. 12, 1929. 1,701,736

H. H. TIMKEN MANUFACTURE OF ROLLERS FOR ROLLER BEARINGS Filed Dec. 15. 1922 Patented 12,v 1929.

outrun STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I I HENRY H. TIMKEN, OF CANTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE TIMKEN ROLLER BEARING I COMPANY, OF CANTONfOHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

MANUFACTURE or Romans roR ROLLER BEARINGS.

Application filed December 13, 1922. Serial No. 606,739.

My invention relates to the manufacture of rollers for roller bearings and has for its principal object to provide a process of making such rollers that will obviate the necesssity for some of the operations heretofore required and otherwise effect practical economies. The invention consists principally in removing the surface defects usually present in rods made by both hot-rolling and cold-drawing processes, cutting such rod into slugs of the proper mass for a roller and then upsetting said slugs in a heading die of the size and taper required for the roller,

In the accompanying drawing wherein like numerals refer to like parts wherever they occur v Fig. 1 is a view of a part of an elongated rod suitable for my process;

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of dressing the surface of said rod" Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of cutting the rod into slugs or sections;

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the operation of upsetting a slug in a head: ing die and I Fig. 5-is a view of the roller.

According to the present invention, 1 start with a rod or bar A as it comes from the hot rolling machine or the cold-drawing machine, as the case maybe. A normal rod of .lhis kind hassurface defects that require to be removed, such, for instance, as scratches, seams, scales and other irregularities. The first step in the present process is to remove said defects by cutting or grinding away "thesurface portion of the rod. This-step is preferably performed with a thread rolling machine of known type; which will cut away the outer surface of the rod throughout. its full length. to a depth necessary to give a sound and smooth cylindrical surface free from flaws and defects, such as indicated by the reference letter A Instead of performing this step with a thread rolling machine, the defects could be .turned off with a lathe or removed with a grinder or by drawing the rod through a cutting die, or otherwise. This operation is indicated diagrammatically by Fig. 2. y Thesecond step in the operation-is to cut Mod from'the prepared red A slugs or seetions A of the mass required for the rollers, as indicated in Fig. 3 of the drawing.

The next step is to upset the slug in a tapered hollow die 4 of the size and taper required for the roller. For this purpose, it is preferable to use a machine of the kind commonly known as a header. Such machine is provided with a rcciprocable lunger (not shown in the drawing) w ich is" equipped with a punch or upsetting die 5 arranged in axial alinement with the conical hollow die 4 above mentioned and is otherwise arranged so as to bear against the s of the surface defects, the resulting soundness of the surface and body of the slug persists after the operation of upsetting "such slug; and this fact, in connection with the fact that the circularity and compactness of the section minimize the tendency to distort during heat treatment, make it practicable to produce a hardened roller which may he used without the grinding formerly required. On the other hand, it is desirable to burnish the hardened rollers for the purpose of removing scale and smoothing the surface thereof. This burnishing operation ismore rapid and economical. than grinding and at the same time leaves the entire thickness of the hardened case, whereas the operation of grinding diminishes the thickness of the.

hardened case and frequently impairs the surface thereof.

. WhileI have specified that the slug is upwherein its diameter is increased at the same Likewise, on'account of the initial removal 7 set in a tapered die, by'which I mean that l the slug is submit-ted to a forging operation time that the slug is shortened in length, I 1

do notv wish to be limited to a forging operation wherein the slug is increased in width throughout its length. On the contrary, I wish the word upsetting? as used herein, to be understood as including a forging operation wherein the forward end of the slug is elongated by bein forced endwise into a tapered die whose ottom portion is of narrower diameter than the initial diameter of" die is "the upset slugs.

2. The process of making rollers for roller bearings which consists in producing a smooth and sound surface of circular section on an elongated rod by removing the entire surface portion thereof to the depth to which the surface defects extend, cutting said rod into slugs of a mass required for a roller, upsetting the slugs in a tapered die of the size and taper required for the roller and then hardening and burnishing the upset slugs.

3. The process of making rollers for roller bearings which comprises cutting away the V entire surface portion of an elongated rod to the depth necessary to secure a smooth and uninterrupted surface of circular sect-ion tree from defects, cutting from said rod slugs of a mass required for a roller, upsetting the slugs in a tapered die and burnishing the upset slugs.

4. The process of making rollers for roller bearings which consists in turning off the surface portion of an elongated rod to the depth necessary to secure asmooth cylindrical surface free from defects, cutting said rod into slugs, upsetting said slugs in a tapered die and hardening and burnishing the upset slugs.

Signed at Canton, Ohio, this 8th day of December, 1922.

' HENRY n. T MKEN. 

